MoTales stories of Mopar / Chrysler cars and trucks

Chrysler rumor wrap / upcoming cars and trucks
June ’24 update

Dodge Hornet: hot compact crossovers
Quick AWD turbo cars, with and without electric motors

Dodge Charger BEV (updated)
The first Charger to need a charger: “Better than Hellcat” performance

Stellantis and FCA platforms of the present and future
STLA Frame, Small, Medium, and Large; CUSW, SUSW, and such (updated 1/20/24)

2023 Dodge Challenger Demon 170: a 1,025 horsepower “last call” muscle car
A deep dive into the impossibly powerful E85-drinking modern muscle car

Maserati vs Alfa Romeo in the 21st Century
How two Italian car brands tried to divide up North American buyers

Jeep Recon (BEV)
Independent suspension, removable doors, battery power: a Jeep that may appeal to less hard-core Wrangler buyers

Chrysler 1925: The first (or second or 31st) year
Possibly the most advanced car of its day

Washer bags: before bottles
How things were and why they changed

Unibody: Behind the Sudden 1960 Move
A stunning, massive shift—the surprising reason they did it

Chrysler-Owned English Luxury: Humber
“The Rolls-Royce of compact cars,” 1899 to 1976

Car Spotter: Imperial Crown and Valiant
A classy 1965 Imperial Crown and a neglected 1960 Valiant

Car Spotter: 1950 Plymouth
Well-preserved 1950 Plymouth Special DeLuxe being sold in 2017

Plymouth cars: Chrysler’s value brand
From 1928 to 2001, boom and bust

Dodge cars: brothers no more, 1928 to now
A short history with all of our Dodge car stories

Chrysler cars, 1924 to today
From the revolutionary B70 to the 300 and Pacifica

Tuning carburetors on vintage cars
A real beginner’s guide

Chrysler 1929-30 vs General Motors
Snapshots of Chrysler, DeSoto, Plymouth, and Dodge, and technology comparisons to GM

Birth of the Chrysler Newport: 1960-62
How the Chrysler Newport was born; the first generation of the Chrysler-styled DeSoto

1955 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman
Diving into one of the most attractive Forward Look cars (Car Spotter #23)

That huge Chrysler: Everything We Make ad
Taking you anywhere you want to go - including 238,000 miles straight up

Plymouth Barracuda and Belvedere: Car Spotter #24
Spotting two vintage Plymouths - a flop that’s now valuable, and a hit that isn’t quite so popular today

The Fabulous Hudson Hornet: “Twin-H Power” and step-down unibody
The short but exciting life of the most unlikely NASCAR championship cars

Columbia Electric: Forgotten part of what became Chrysler Corporation
Deep in the roots of Chrysler lurked battery-powered electric cars

Mopar car names: Star Trek, royalty, and crazy long
Cars named from Star Trek, hotels, and royalty; and the absurdly long Dodge and Plymouth car names

Jack Benny’s Maxwell (Chrysler Connections)
How Jack Benny ended up driving (on radio, TV, and the big screen) the predecessor of Plymouth and the Chrysler Four

Maxwell, US Motor, Standard: pre-Chrysler, 1904 to 1925
How Maxwell Motors morphed into U.S. Motor Company and Standard Motor, then finally became Chrysler Corporation in 1925 after making Chryslers for a year

The 1924 Chrysler, a century later
How Maxwell’s new Chrysler came to be, and how well it’s aged

Electric Mopars: Chrysler BEVs, From the 1880s to 2022
A brief story of Chrysler’s largely unknown and ignored battery-electric cars

The Major Bowes Imperial (Beautifully Restored Car)
Inside the special 1937 Chrysler Imperial limousine made for Major Edward Bowes, the top radio personality of his day

Restoring Della Chrysler’s One-Off Car
An anachronistic luxury car for Della Chrysler: the fate of the 1937 LeBaron

The Chrysler Windsor Hybrid: Car-Plane Hybrid
Giving new meaning to "state of the art"

Driving a 1974 Plymouth Valiant, Fifty Years Later
Classic cars on modern roads

The Story of the Record-Setting 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona: Lost, Found, Restored
Setting records, sitting behind a garage, and restoration: the #88 Buddy Baker / Charlie Glotzbach wing car

Chrysler Racing’s report on the 1968 Dodge Charger 500 speed tests
Dodge putting some serious analysis and thought into their highly stable, 192-mph racing cars

The Quite Exhaustive Valiant Creation Story
Creating the Valiant, Fore-Runner of the Plymouth Duster and Dodge Dart

The Dodge, yes, Dodge GTX
South American Valiants

Charger Daytona: the Cordoba version of a 200-mph legend
Not quite a racing car

Chrysler Sunbeam: winner of the rallying championship
An Avenger variant

1970 Chrysler 300-H
(300 Hurst)

What did buyers think of the 1971-73 Mopar cars?
Market research revealed

Plymouth Cricket/Hillman Avenger (and the Dodge Polara, 1500, and 1800 and VW 1500) around the world
Global cars long before the Escort and Omni

1971 Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler cars
All the ’71s

What’s under the hood?
When and why it all changed

Birth and life of the Road Runner
Jack Smith creates a muscle legend

Charger Daytona: 200 mph supercar
Who made it (and why they did)

Birth of the 1966 and 1968 Dodge Charger
A legend is born

Behind the Fratzog
Memorable 1960s-70s Icon Returning for 2025

1975 Dodge Charger SE: Comfy but slow cruiser
Driving a 1975 Dodge Charger SE with a 318 V8: sluggish rolling sofa? (Car Spotter #21)

1973 Dodge Taxi brochure (and Mopar cabs)
The brochure and the full story: Dodge’s 1973 taxi lineup and the company’s history with cabs

1974 Dodge Dart-and-Challenger Foldout
Dodge’s seemingly odd 1974 Challenger and Dart brochure

Not Absolutely Fabulous: The AMC Hornet
AMC’s ‘rich’ compact economy car, 1970-1977, and the SC/360

Classic rear wheel drive Mopar car groups, by platform code
Diving into the A, B, C, D, F/J/M, E, and R bodies (and why they had letters)

Inside the Monroney: 1970 Plymouth Suburban
Explaining every aspect of the 1970 Plymouth car price sticker

How much did it weigh? 1974 Valiant/Dart, 1972 Imperial, and their options
Diving into weight figures for cars at opposite ends of Chrysler’s spectrum—the Plymouth Valiant/Dodge Dart and Imperial LeBaron

1973 Dart Swinger and 1974 Dart Sport: Inside the Monroney
Diving into classic Dodge price stickers - what it all meant, what it all cost in today's dollars

Chrysler Cordoba: “Personal Luxury”
Two generations of Cordobas - one based on the Charger, another based on the New Yorker

1968-1980 Mopar VIN Decoder for Cars
Find out what your Dodge, Plymouth, or Chrysler vehicle ID number means (or decode cars at shows)

1970-1976 Plymouth Duster and Dodge Demon
Sporty compact cars based on the Valiant, running everything from the slant six to the hot 340 and 360 V8

Dodge Challenger, 1970-1974: hot but unwanted muscle cars
Classic Dodge Challengers: everything from the slant six to 426 Hemi, from conception to the end

Plymouth Superbird Secrets
Inside some of the engineering and aerodynamics features of the most recognizable Road Runner

Dodge Polara, Valiant, and Coronado of Argentina
Compact in Sport or Luxury Trim

Insane: 1991-92 Dodge Spirit R/T
Fastest sedan of its time

Plymouth TC3/Dodge O24: Lee’s “second Mustang”
Quick little coupes

It almost happened: the Eagle minivan and the new Chrysler LeBaron
Rejected ideas

Jeep J90 and JJ
Compact third-world-targeted Jeeps

Making Minivans in Windsor
Chrysler factory photos

1983 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue (brochure and info)
Advertising the Chrysler M-bodies

1983 Dodge Diplomat in Canada
Digging into the brochure and the car

Plymouth Sundance, Dodge Shadow, Shelby CSX
Sporty but practical replacements for the Reliant and Aries, with one extreme version

Renegade: Fiat-based Jeeps
Oddly capable little crossovers

Dodge Charger, 2006-2023
The return of rear wheel drive

Dodge Caliber, 2007-12
The much-maligned chunky-look Neon replacement

Modern Dodge Challengers
Retro muscle cars breaking 800 horsepower, 2008-2023

New Dodge Dart (2013-16)
Bugs and oversharing killed a contender

Changes in the 2023 Mopars
Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler’s 2023 news

The “bloated” Dodge Durango: 2004 to 2009
The SUV that nearly destroyed the Durango franchise, though it was definitely a contender at first...

Dodge Durango, 2011-2025: the Unibody Muscle SUV versions
Not quite a clone of the Grand Cherokee, the WD Durango was a three-row SUV that could run 0-60 in 3.5 seconds...

Electric minivans (the originals): TEVan and EPIC
Chrysler invented the electric minivan - three generations of them

Neon 2.0: the final all-Chrysler four-cylinder engines
How the Neon ended up with a class-leading four-cylinder

Sticker and receipt: 1993 Plymouth Sundance
Diving into the Monroney price sticker and bill of sale for a 1993 Plymouth Sundance

2009-2020 Dodge Journey: Budget crossover replacing the Caravan
Following the crossover from its promising launch to its lingering end

Chrysler 200 Convertibles
The final Sebring Convertible, renamed to 200S and 200C

Return of the Dodge Dart: a 2013 to 2024 video retrospective
The compact Dodge powered by either a DaimlerChrysler or Fiat engine

Mopar 1992: Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep, and Eagle
Chrysler Corporation in 1992: Cars, Trucks, and Change

Where to get parts for your Mopar
Real info—not ads

2.4 VVT actuator swap
Rescue that old car

Tracking down electric leaks / battery draw
One of the toughest things to find

1968-1980 Mopar VIN Decoder for Cars
Find out what your Dodge, Plymouth, or Chrysler vehicle ID number means (or decode cars at shows)

Jeep “death wobble”
Causes and fixes of Wrangler-Gladiator steering problems

Chrysler-Mopar Automatic Temperature Control, 1968 to 1993
From the earliest air conditioners to the digital ’90s, with overviews, pics, and tech

When AMC won in Trans Am
(and the Javelin)

1965 Plymouth Daytona?
It might have happened!

The Story of the Record-Setting 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona: Lost, Found, Restored
Setting records, sitting behind a garage, and restoration: the #88 Buddy Baker / Charlie Glotzbach wing car

Chrysler Racing’s report on the 1968 Dodge Charger 500 speed tests
Dodge putting some serious analysis and thought into their highly stable, 192-mph racing cars

Dodge Intrepid: the police car
Agile, surprisingly quick front while drive pursuit vehicles

Plymouth police cars of 1976
Downsized but strong

Car Spotter: 1971 Plymouth Fury Pursuit Car
Big and classy police car

Making police cars: who and what was involved?
Diving into the changes that make an ordinary car into a pursuit vehicle (or just an ordinary police car)

Prototypical police cars: Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury
Inside the M-body Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury that defined how police cars should look for at least a decade

Mopar police cars of 1980: St. Regis/Gran Fury, Aspen/Volare, B-Van
The last of the big Plymouth and Dodge police cars, in their penultimate year, with the final F-body squads

Mopar police cars of 1983: Diplomat/Gran Fury and Reliant/Aries
Two quite different approaches to police cars, with front and rear wheel drive, powered by V8 and four-cylinder engines

Dodge Charger BEV (updated)
The first Charger to need a charger: “Better than Hellcat” performance

1999 Chrysler Citadel concept: LH hybrid wagon
The hybrid concept that sort of became a minivan-based crossover

2003 Dodge Kahuna concept
Playing with materials, teasing a Dodge version of the Pacifica crossover

1999 Power Wagon concept car: Extreme looks, big diesel
The first hint of a new Power Wagon tested a lot of styling and whether people believed in Clean Diesel...